Thanks, Nbc, Notre Dame Stands Pat

KUNDA

Dick Rosenthal was big enough (and talented enough) to play Division I basketball at the University of Notre Dame.

He grew smart enough (and personable enough) years later to take over as the athletic director at his alma mater.

Doubly smart, this Dick Rosenthal, to realize that Notre Dame has more going for it than just the Golden Dome. As he puts it, athletically speaking, "We feel pretty comfortable with our situation."

In this day and age with colleges all over the country scurrying for conference affiliation, Notre Dame stands pat as an independent. And, it will stay that way forever, perhaps.

Thank you, NBC.

Not many universities have the luxury of their "own" TV network, but, then, how many universities are steeped in tradition as Notre Dame is? You know, the "Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame" bit.

Earlier this year, NBC and Notre Dame agreed on a contract extension. The Fighting Irish will be on NBC right through to the year 2000. And the contract is for a lot more than the $30 million that the network originally paid in 1991 on a five-year contract.

Add the fact that NBC will do four Notre Dame basketball games beginning with the 1994-95 and the picture becomes even greener.

The big bucks of television are what prompted the mass move to conference affiliation. That includes Penn State and the Big Ten.

"The money and the market," said Rosenthal. "Yes, we've been very fortunate with the deal with NBC."

And the market?

Notre Dame's market is everywhere. There isn't a college anywhere that has it any better.

Even for an old basketball guy, Rosenthal, who was in town last night to speak to the Notre Dame Club of the Lehigh Valley, likes to talk football tradition at Notre Dame.

He says that tradition is one of the reasons "we're comfortable with our program and it would be difficult to change."

Rosenthal points to the longtime Southern Cal series, and to the great rivalries of the past when Army and Navy were competitive and added much history to the "little prairie school in South Bend."

That's all part of the mystique of the Fighting Irish. Rosenthal adds that "other schools are coming on our schedule, like Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Nebraska and Washington."

Notre Dame is one of the schools that is dead-set against any form of postseason playoffs in football. Yeah, even though as recently as last football season, when the Fighting Irish got nipped out the national championship by Florida State.

It mattered not that the Irish beat the Seminoles in a regular-season game in South Bend in November.

"That stuff happens," said Rosenthal, managing a slight smile. "But, I guess that's what keeps the pot-bellied stoves cooking during the winter months."

Notre Dame is against a playoff plan for academic reasons. "It's too high a price for our athletes to pay," said Rosenthal, mentioning that right after Thanksgiving exams and the holidays keep the students occupied. "Those are precious times for our athletes."

Rosenthal realizes that the football staff at Notre Dame would love a playoff, but, what coaching staff wouldn't?

"A playoff would be an intrusion into the academic life," Rosenthal says.

One other thing, and that's stadium expansion. Rosenthal said plans are in the hands of the board of trustees, and an answer will come on May 5.

Indications are that Notre Dame Stadium, an old, but cozy facility, which seats around 60,000 will be expanded to 80,000.